Davao City (PIA) – Like it or not, addressing the drug menace is an investment for Filipino children, an official of the Presidential Communication and Operations Office (PCOO) said.
Introducing the “Rehabinasyon Program” during Sunday’s National Drug Summit at the Marco Polo Hotel here, PCOO Assistant Secretary Ramon Cualoping likened the illegal drugs campaign to the rehabilitation of Boracay and the restoration of Manila Bay.
Coined from the words rehabilitation and “nasyon” (nation), Rehabinasyon is “rehabilitating our nation from the scourge of illegal drugs,” which Cualoping referred to as an investment for the future—the young and their children to come.”
Cualoping acknowledged that the campaign on illegal drugs had been plagued with criticisms but he said the Rehabinasyon was set on a track to “reach out to the informed audience—for them to be the government’s ambassadors of rehabilitation.”
“Rehabinasyon also reaches out to the informed but misinformed—so that areas of confusion in the government’s work may be clarified.”
Other cluster of informed audiences targeted to get enlightened are those who refuse to understand, “because it is important to establish discourse on this matter that affects all of us (regardless of) political color.”
“And finally, rehabinasyon reaches out to the uninformed (who will) be our new partners for change.”
The two-day Rehabinasyon, which was the first national anti-drugs summit, had three segments: the real numbers, the real solutions and the real stories. Verified data relative to illegal drugs operation, programs and projects on enforcement, justice and rehabilitation, integration and advocacy were revealed and shared.
The summit also sought to share real stories of the “horror” and “success stories” of former drug dependents. The summit drew more than 300 participants including local chief executives, information officers, media practitioners, and heads of national line agencies and drug enforcement agencies.